


Tagetes L.

by Joewue



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Dying Will Flames (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Gen, Italian Mafia, Terminal Illnesses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-28 17:16:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19816864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joewue/pseuds/Joewue
Summary: Sawada Tsunayoshi was born to die.





	1. Maledetto

**Author's Note:**

> It gets longer after that, don't worry. Or do worry, actually. Ha-ha...
> 
> Feel free to verbally abuse me and my terrible writing skills, people, because I have to know what I should focus on.
> 
> Oh, and English is not actually my first language, so prepare your poor innocent eyes!

Giotto never considered himself a good man. 

On the contrary, all his good intentions inevitably led Primo to a dead end, from which he could only escape over a bunch of dead bodies. 

And so he killed. Silently, pursing his lips, knowing that it's all just a pointless, pitiful attempt to delay the inevitable. 

Giotto never suffered narcissism either, much less bloodthirst. He sincerely hated himself for all the deaths, broken lifes and destruction that happened due to his fault. 

But there was no other way. He was the Boss. He _had_ to... 

_Hadtohadtohadto_

Throughout his short life, Primo Vongola only ever did what he had to. Raised his Famiglia to the top, entered into alliances, killed, charmed and intimidated. 

Giotto was never afraid of death. Oh no, he was looking forward to it. As if it was a meeting with an old friend. A relieve. 

He knew from the very beginning he will die young. After all, he was _abnormal_. And people like him rarely lived for very long. 

His Flames was not just strong. It was _magnificent_. For the one who witnessed it just once it was impossible to forget him. The True Sky - cruel, pure, harmonious. 

And it burned Giotto from the inside. 

Lying in a locked room in a fetal position, convulsing and wheezing, unable to even scream - it was then, at twenty-four and something, that the Italian swore he will never have kids. 

Let it be a betrayal, let Vongola after his death rush in search of an heir. He will not let his child suffer. The cursed Flames will die with him, disappear into nothingness. 

Primo Vongola died of an unknown disease a month before his thirtieth birthday, taking the secret of True Sky to the grave. 

Without knowing that somewhere in Japan one of his former mistresses just had a daughter.  



	2. Tutto e benissimo, mamma!

_Everything's great, mom!_

Soon after that baby tutor showed up at their doorstep, Nana felt that something was _wrong_. It wasn’t even the ever-present bruises (that hardly left her son's body nowadays) that alarmed her. And not a-little-too-early-to-be-counted-as-morning awakenings. Not even the recklessness with which her usually quiet and shy boy began to get involved in serious fights. 

It's was just that at some point the woman's heart pounded uneasily, and then... Her son _changed_.

Of course, he became a little stronger after all these trainings and made a lot of new friends... But no. That wasn't it.

He was still clumsy and diffident, his test scores barely improved, and dear sweet Kyouko-chan still made him blush and stutter. 

But in her son's big and naive brown eyes more and more often flared up that lonely golden sparks and despair.

_Everything's great, mom!_

Tsu-kun was rarely (almost never) alone these days. His new friends were always with him. And for that, Nana was incredibly grateful. 

When her son finally began to come out of his shell, she thought that now he would definitely be okay. That he will no longer spend days alone. And will stop distancing himself from her so much.

Secretly, she actually hoped that everything would be right again, as it was ten years ago.

But what happened in reality was just the opposite. Tsunayoshi started to push her away like he never had before. Small things at first - she ran out of concealer, the one that she, in general, rarely used. _And wasn't that funny_ , because the last time she saw the jar it was almost full.

And perhaps the worst of it was that no one noticed anything.

**"Gokudera-kun, do you know what's going on with Tsu-kun?"**

**"Is something wrong with Jūdaime, Nana-san?"**

And if the teenagers could miss these things, surely obviously smart and observant Reborn-kun should have known something! No matter how naive she seemed (and probably sometimes was), Sawada simply couldn't believe that the tutor, who had slept with her child in one room, had never heard quiet sobs and muffled howls that didn't let her sleep at night.

So why?..

_Everything's great, mom!_

That morning her son didn't eat his breakfast. And not even because Reborn-kun stole his food again. He just wasn't hungry. And Nana was determined to finally call their family doctor. Something weird was going on. And it _scared_ her.

He had already crossed the threshold, heading for school, when suddenly...

**"Jūdaime, what's wrong?! Jūdaime!"**

...Her boy groaned softly and fell unconscious.


	3. Disastro ambulante

_Sawada Tsunayoshi is a walking disaster._

When the head of CEDEF called Reborn to inform him he was invited to a birthday party by Vongola Nono himself, the hitman immediately knew something was off.

To openly invite freelancers to official celebrations was usually considered... not to say a bad form - the worst kind of imprudence. They could easily kill the kind host or any of their guests and just tell everyone else it was an order. Besides, for mercenaries of his magnitude hiding from the Alliance wasn't exactly uncommon.

However, in that case it would not only be the hosts who would took certain risks. Young and inexperienced hitmans have repeatedly encountered similar tricks - having received an invitation, out of courtesy they attended an event, during which ( _quite by accident!_ ) various assassinations took place.

And rarely any of them could prove their innocence.

In addition, the very fact that such individuals were present already aroused in the heads of majority of people well-founded suspicions.

The only one who could afford such a feat was Timoteo. Vongola was too strong of a Famiglia, and no one would dare to speak out in the open against the quirks of the old man. Not like he would be around for much longer.

As it turned out, Nono wanted Reborn to train him a heir.

_Sawada Tsunayoshi is a walking disaster._

Reborn realized that after a first few seconds of reading the report.

Soft, not burdened with intelligence or muscle, weak-willed... just the ordinary teenager.

The hitman laughed. And this he will have to make a mafia boss? Even Dino Cavallone gave him less trouble! He, at least, was raised as the future Head, and despite all his worthlessness, he was well educated and knew what he wanted. Forget about clumsiness. Give him few more months and with enhanced training he would beat that bullshit right out of the brat.

However, the rest of Bucking Horse's survival course would have to be postponed indefinitely - because, refuse Vongola a favor? Arcobaleno or not, no one in their right mind would possibly pass up opportunity like that.

_Sawada Tsunayoshi is a walking disaster._

Reborn was convinced of this immediately after moving to his house. _Nothingness_. Constantly whining, falling, dumb and surprisingly cowardly _nothingness_.

Arcobaleno frowned, rolled his eyes, hiding behind his hat, and didn't understand what to do. How was he supposed to deal with this... _Tuna_?!

His training methods almost made any difference. No, seriously! At this rate, Tsunayoshi should've already become a little stronger and the bony figure should've start to grow at least _some_ muscles... But the child, as if mocking him, only worsened his performance.

Now Reborn seriously doubted his old friend's mental health. How on earth he convinced himself that Iemitsu's son would in the future be on the same level with Primo?

**N-e-v-e-r.**

_Sawada Tsunayoshi is a walking disaster._

After two months of training the cursed man began to seriously fear for his student. If before he was just terribly clumsy, now looking at him the tutor involuntarily recalled some silly american movie about a bunch of high school students.

Previously he thought daily falls from the stairs and out of the blue were annoying. But _cara dolce madre di dio_ was he wrong. No, from now on things did not end there: now there was always either a rock or a nail or some broken glass there where his head landed. Every time he crossed the road, cars literally sprang out of thin air. And Tsunayoshi himself, it seemed, didn't notice anything at all.

If it were not for Reborn, Sawada-junior would've been dead for a long time now. It was he who repeatedly pulled the brat out from under the wheels at the last moment and stopped him at a couple of inches from death. But neither of the check-ups (arranged by both the Vongola and the Sun Arcobaleno personally) produced any results: no one attempted to assassinate the Heir. Every single time was _an accident_.

_Sawada Tsunayoshi is a walking **fucking** disaster._

This was what the world's best hitman thought about, dragging the unconscious brat in the house on a pair with Gokudera. How did he even manage to get sick in such warm weather anyway?

**Oh, per l'amor di-**

The weird thing was that his Sun flames were not helping in the slightest. On the contrary, the already abnormally high temperature raised from 104 to 109. Anyone in his place would've been a goner, but it seemed that his Sky Flames supported it's host as best as it could.

The hitman was swearing in all the languages he knew while taking off wet, sweat-soaked clothes of future Decimo and, again on a pair with Gokudera, plunging his body into the bath with icy cold water. Sobbing Nana has already called an ambulance, but in order for his student to survive long enough it was necessary to bring the temperature down. No matter the cost.

Reborn pursed his lips and squeezed kid's hands harder, up to the blue marks, watching fragile body twitch and squirm in agony - and where the hell were fucking doctors, what could've possibly take them so long?

His heart skipped a beat or two when Sawada abruptly stopped screaming, relaxed and sank into the water. Only after he made sure that Iemitsu's son was alive and breathing the hitman finally exhaled.

Tsunayoshi's temperature was 108.5.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a pretty uneventful chapter for you, guys. Enjoy it before all the suffering begins. New tags and possibly characters will be added when we get to them, and boy this is gonna be a mess.
> 
> Translation of Italian phrases used (just in case):
> 
> "cara dolce madre di dio" means "dear sweet mother of god"
> 
> and "Oh, per l'amor di-" means "Oh, for the love of-"
> 
> If anyone finds the translation inaccurate - please let me know. 
> 
> Also didn't put here translation of the chapter's name because it's pretty obvious.
> 
> See you tomorrow, take care)


	4. lealtà del cane

_He has the eyes of a faithful dog._

  


Kneeling in front of his new boss, Hayato didn't feel anything. There was no fabled connection between the Sky and it's true Guardian ( _and he didn't doubt the “true” part, because, really, he wasn't called Vongola's first Storm Guardian's reincarnation for nothing_ ).

Suppressing a sigh of disappointment, the italian put on a wide smile and shouted something about eternal devotion. Reborn kept saying that he just had to be patient, the actual bond could not be established in one day. But time passed, and nothing really changed.

  


_He has the eyes of a faithful dog._

  


Soon this Decimo-to-be started to annoy him. Looking back at their fight, Gokudera more and more often found himself wondering why exactly he agreed to this shit.

Was the life of a freelancer that much worse? Well, yes, his own father hated him, Shamal ignored him and Bianchi kept appearing out of nowhere and poisoning him periodically. But his father still hated him, Shamal avoided him at all costs, and his sister... She wasn't going to change suddenly just because he was the next VSG.

And these stupid kids who were supposed to be his colleagues were just the icing on the cake! A spoiled five-year-old brat, two dumb sportsmans, an inadequate 'carnivore' sadist and a questionably loyal living corpse with a creepy jailbird bastard in her body? When did that become his life?

They're doomed, obviously.

  


_He has the eyes of a faithful dog._

  


When Tsunayoshi abruptly fell unconscious, Hayato for the first time felt something disturbingly similar to a vague anxiety.

No, he still gave zero fucks about the guy, and was here only for the strongest Famiglia's protection. But, it seemed, if his boss died now, he would be just a little, tiny, almost nonexistent bit very upset.

And for all the death and gore he'd seen, Hayato still couldn't look without pity at the fragile figure, lying motionless in a bath tub. Sawada only just stopped moving, but after five short minutes the house was once again filled with screams.

_Grazie Dio_ the children was already in the park with Chrome.

The boy in their hands coughed and wheezed as if he didn't have enough strength to yell anymore.

Where the hell was that ambulance?!

  


_He has the eyes of a faithful dog._

  


He realized - _that's it_ , at the second sleepless night. For all this time, Gokudera didn’t move a single step away from Tsunayoshi's side, refusing to go home.

“ **Gokudera-kun** ,” Chrome whispered timidly and touched his shoulder in attempt to comfort, “ **we can't do anything right now. And Boss wouldn’t be happy i- when he'll hear what you did to yourself!** "

Just leave him like that?!

  


_**Che diavolo c'è di sbagliato in loro?!** _

  


And they still dared to call themselves Decimo's Guardians?!

  


_He has the eyes of a faithful dog._   


  


Hayato accepted him, recognized as his Sky. The bond developed after a while, as Reborn told him time and time again. But what if now was too late?

He sat on the stone hard hospital chair and listened to the doctor. Or, more precisely, he tried - ringing in his ears overlapped the calm, quiet voice and it was impossible for Hayato to understand even the approximate meaning of the words.

Nana-san was crying, he realized... Was it bad? If something was to happen with Jūdaime... He wouldn't be able forgive himself.

However the relieved smiles of his - _colleagues? friends? he honestly couldn't tell anymore_ \- and Reborn's quiet satisfaction told him it was fine. Tsunayoshi was going to be be alright.

  


_He has the eyes of a faithful dog._

  


And finally, finally he wasn’t acting. No more masks, Gokudera thought, because now he was truly devoted to his boss. A stab of guilt passed through him. It only took Tsunayoshi's near **fucking** death for him to get his head out of his ass.

But now everything was fine. Really. Sawada Tsunayoshi, the future Decimo Vongola, said so, and this man could never for the life of him tell a believable lie ( _ ~~yet~~_ ).

So why couldn't he shake this crappy feeling?

Gokudera was devoted like a dog. Desperately, recklessly devoted. But he wasn’t _blind_. He knew that something was wrong. Usually bright, if a bit ( ~~a lot~~ ) nervous smile changed into something much less sincere. Slightly bitter, slightly stretched - Tsunayoshi himself became different.

Still, Hayato wasn’t going to pry. Jūdayme had his right to keep secrets, even if it wasn't pleasant for everyone else. Tsunayoshi was his Sky, so Storm had to trust him. After all - it was Tsuna, he wouldn't hide something actually important, right?..

  


_**...Right?..** _   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Grazie Dio" means, as you probably realized, "Thank God".
> 
> "Che diavolo c'è di sbagliato in loro?!" translates as "What the hell is wrong with them?!"
> 
> And chapter's name, "lealtà del cane" means "Dog loyalty".
> 
> Yay, Gokudera chapter!
> 
> Fun fact - while working on this chapter I had an idea. So, basically everyone in the mafia heard about Vongola Primo. Like, the guy invented mafia as we know it - a bunch of crazy people with questionable morals and fire superpowers - yes? So there's bound to be some crazy stories about that living legend, like "Giotto climbed the mountain to become stronger" - because no one in their right mind would do that. And as Vongola Primo is a semi-mythological creature and Decimo is his living image - does it make Tsuna, like, his Second Coming? Because I totally can see a bunch of cultists trying to vorship him. In that case Enma (who literally was fighting a dumb one-sided war that went on for generations with some bullshit cause), Kavahira (the immortal guy who caused hundreds of people to die and turn into undead), Byakuran (always eating marshmallows) and Uni (who comes from a fucking dynasty of terminally ill people, even if it's because of Kavahira) can loosely fit into the 'Four Horseman' theme. And Xanxus is the Abomination, yeah.
> 
> I should probably come down soon.
> 
> Sorry, that was unnecessary.
> 
> Have a nice day, anyway!)


	5. Spazzatura disperata

_“Desperate trash...”_

Xanxus grinned viciously while sitting in his favorite armchair. In fact, this whole mess of a situation was amusing as hell.

Check this out - they, the elite squad of murderers that consisted solely of complete scumbags and psychopaths, were loosing fights with a bunch of brats? How could anyone really believe that shit? Has dementia striked not only the old man, but the whole mafia community?

 _ **Nah**_ , Skyrini straightened himself a bit - naturally, everyone here understood that the fights were not real. If Varia could've fight seriously - forget about the audience, there would be no stone unturned from the whole city.

But at this point shit was getting ridiculous. And they called this a fight? Just look at their Lightning, it's priceless! A five-year-old, no less!

_He would've murder Levi with his own bare hands if he'd lost - or even pretended to! - to the original kid. They were praised as elite for a reason - and he worked too damn hard for this reputation, so that trash had no right to fuck it up._

Even they never went so far, considering Belphegor was eight years old when Varia found him. Moreover, he was at least a genius. And by that time he already had experienced murder.

_“Desperate trash...”_

From the very beginning, the whole crap with rings was rigged. Even the blind, deaf and inattentive have long known that Timoteo and Xanxus weren't related by blood. No matter how annoying it was to admit it - when it came to rumors and conjectures, mafioso showed wonders of resourcefulness and creativity. But the story-tellers of Vongola were above them all in composing any kind of tales. And - oh, him being "the adopted son of Don Timoteo" was their masterpiece.

Honestly, when Xanxus heard it for the first time he lost his shit. Who could've possibly come up with that nonsense? The old man accepted him into the Famiglia only because of his potential and distant relation to Nono's late wife.

But an elderly Italian certainly knew how to take advantage of situation, so Varia boss wasn't exactly surprised when he fed people with some bullshit about Skyrini being a descendant of a cousin of a niece of the sister of Ricardo’s grandmother's wayward son (at this point he told him to shut the fuck up and stopped listening) and managed to maintain a few more years worth of peace.

Well, here they were now, following his 'father's' master plan. For the **_gran finale_** Skyrini had to by all means 'lose' to Sawada in an 'honest' battle, thereby proving his exclusive right to inheritance. And in exchange Varia would be mostly left alone.

It was only Sawada Jr. himself and his Brat Squad who didn't know that the outcome of each match was already determined.

_"Desperate trash..."_

At some point during their 'fight' with Tsunayoshi ( ** _Dannazione_ _, questo bambino potrebbe muoversi ancora più lentamente?!_** ) the boss of Varia realized - that was it. He was officially insane. Because how the hell else could be explained the fact that his opponent, who only recently started training with his Flames, just used the Primo Vongola's legendary technique?

Xanxus's eye twitched a little at the familiar feeling of ice covering his body. The brat had potential. Unfortunately he had little to no real combat experience, but this was easy to fix. If he was to be completely honest, he wanted this power in his squad.

For all Squallo was a loud and irritating asshole, he was a surprisingly good teacher. A year under his command, and the brat would be ready for his first test assignment. Paired with someone, of course, because no way in hell inexperienced novices were to disgrace the Varia name and Quality with their inevitable fuck ups.

Mostly it wasn’t even physical strength that drew his attention. It were his eyes. Filled with both rage and determination, and at the same time - the icy calmness of a man with a goal. Tsunayoshi screamed subconsciously - _'I know for sure that I will die and I know for sure it won't happen today'_.

_“Desperate trash...”_

Skyrini somewhat liked the brat. Of course, he was not telling that to anyone anytime soon. But leaving after their 'defeat' and watching the absolutely childish joyful expression, he thought privately that he would prefer a boss like that over the old manipulative son of a bitch.

Of course, only if by the time the son of the External Advisor becomes the actual Tenth, he'll still have those eyes - the eyes of a real fighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, a bit of AU'ish insight into the Varia arc, yay.
> 
> The chapter's title is 'Spazzatura disperata' what means, as you probably realized, 'Desperate trash'.
> 
> 'Gran finale' is not something you really need me to translate.
> 
> And 'Dannazione, questo bambino potrebbe muoversi ancora più lentamente?!' means 'Damn, can this kid move any slower?!'
> 
> Have a nice day, because no one here is going to anymore.


End file.
